Politics

After 48 hours observation by a team of doctors of SAL hospital, the health of Ashok Bhatt, speaker of the Gujarat assembly, is reportedly stable.

The doctors have conducted tests of his kidneys, lungs and heart. The senior leader is still on the ventilator as he has breathing problems.

"All the doctors' reports are normal," said Bhushan Bhatt, son of Ashok Bhatt. "He is still on the ventilator but his health is stable". According to hospital sources, the doctors, on Monday, switched off the ventilator for few moments, but had to turn it on again to ensure his normal breathing.

The Congress party rules the municipal corporation of Raipur, Chhattisgarh’s capital, and the Bharatiya Janata Party rules the state. That creates the ground conditions for several controversies, including naming a park. A new park in the state capital was named after Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, founder member of Jan Sangh.

RAIPUR: Opposition Congress Thursday slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for reinstating Pradeep Gandhi, a former MP who was expelled from parliament after being caught on camera accepting bribe.

Gandhi, a close aide of Chief Minister Raman Singh and former Lok Sabha member from Rajnandgaon seat, was appointed as a special invitee in BJP's state executive committee recently. He is one of the 11 MPs who were expelled in 2005 for accepting money for asking questions in the house.

New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) Congress today welcomed BJP MP Ram Jethmalani's praise of S M Krishna for showing "dignity" in the face of critical remarks of his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, saying it is an endorsement that the External Affairs Minister covered great ground in difficult times. "S M Krishna's visit to Pakistan covered a great ground in very difficult times. The appreciation endorses it," party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said at the AICC briefing.

Raipur Protesting against the incident in which Hindu right-wing groups publicly slapped, kicked and blackened the faces of girls at several places opposing Friendship Day celebrations, Congress legislators on Monday slammed the BJP government for police inaction, forced an adjournment of the Assembly and later staged a walkout.

Raipur: Maoists have been stepping up their war against the state with the aim of usurping power in Delhi at gunpoint, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said Tuesday.

Replying to a day-long debate over an adjournment motion in the state assembly, Singh said: 'Their (Maoists) aim is not Chhattisgarh, their aim is Delhi where they want transfer of power at gunpoint.'

During the debate, the Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state was attacked by the opposition for its failure to stop repeated deadly attacks by Maoists.

Raipur: His state is the worst to be hit by Maoist insurgency in India. But despite a series of deadly attacks in 2010, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh is confident that his government is 'capable of finishing' the rebels although the war will be 'long-drawn'.

'The Chhattisgarh government is not losing the war against Maoists. The government is well capable of finishing them,' says Raman Singh, who has been heading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the mineral-rich but largely impoverished state since December 2003.

Raipur, Jul 5 (PTI) The nation-wide bandh called to protest fuel price hike today disrupted normal life in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh.

Roads wore a deserted look as buses, auto-rickshaws, trucks and cars kept off the roads.

Educational institutions, cinema halls and petrol pumps also remained closed in the state.

BJP national Vice President Karuna Shukla and party General Secretary Thavar Chand Gehlot led the protesters in Raipur, appealing the traders to join the nation-wide bandh.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Friday said the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Arjun Singh alone can not be held responsible for letting Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, out of the country.

"Arjun Singh alone can not held be responsible for letting Anderson out of the country. The then Central Government and some senior leaders of Congress party too are responsible for it," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha told reporters in Raipur.

She also said the UPA government is not "serious" about Anderson's extradition.

NEW DELHI: Expelled BJP leader Uma Bharati travelling with party senior L K Advani, former party chief Rajnath Singh and party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad to Raipur in a special plane on Wednesday sparked speculation about her return to the fold soon. The BJP leaders travelled to Raipur to attend the last rites of Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh’s father, who passed away recently.